How brilliant does a product need to be to succeed in a crowded market? William Tunstall-Pedoe, founder of Evi (formerly True Knowledge), a Cambridge-based Artificial Intelligence technology business which was acquired by Amazon, spoke at CfEL's Enterprise Tuesday programme.

Lord Karan Bilimoria of Chelsea, founder and Chairman of Cobra Beer, talks about the roller coaster ride of developing a new brand in a competitive market. This presentation is part of the Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning's Enterprise Tuesday series.

Professor Stelios Kavadias, Margaret Thatcher Professor of Enterprise Studies in Innovation & Growth, and Director of Research, at Cambridge Judge Business School, interviewed a panel of entrepreneurs and business leaders about innovation and growth at CfEL's Enterprise Tuesday talk on 25th November 2014.

Prof Andy Hopper CBE FRS FREng FIET and Dr Hermann Hauser CBE FRS FREng talk about the issues involved in commercialising research and innovation.

Many new ventures never use venture capital. So how do they get the money to start and grow their business? The answer lies with the customers. Michael Dell, Bill Gates and Banana Republic′s Mel and Patricia Ziegler all used customers to develop their iconic companies. In this session, Dr John Mullins talks about his pragmatic thinking on business and what entrepreneurs need in the early stages of a venture in this audio recording of his lecture at CfEL's Enterprise Tuesday on 11th November...

Dr David Cleevely knows a thing or two about building businesses. A serial entrepreneur and investor, he has worked at the heart of the Cambridge Cluster on numerous ventures including telecoms consultancy Analysys, web based antibody company Abcam (ABC.L); and G femto base station company, 3WayNetworks. Abcam, which he co-founded in 1998 and was Chairman of until 2009, currently has a $1.5bn valuation - not bad for a company that starting selling antibodies door-to-door on a bike! David is...

The Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning talked to Sarah Coleman, international business consultant and coach, about her experiences of helping companies to grow and scale. She also discusses how she applies her expertise and experience to mentoring would-be entrepreneurs studying on the Postgraduate Diploma in Entrepreneurship programme. Sarah's career has developed from working in ICT with a focus on change management and business strategy to business consultancy and coaching across many...

Neil Stott, Chief Executive of the Keystone Development Trust, talks about the challenges of retaining social and financial returns on investment in wealth creation projects within the community. The Trust was named by the Cabinet Office (Mar 2014) as one of a number of partners awarded a grant of £900k to support social ventures in the East of England and aims to create a new generation of social ventures and entrepreneurs. There are approximately 70,000 social enterprises in the UK...

Dr Shima Barakat, Research & Teaching Fellow in Enterprise at the Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning (CfEL), Cambridge Judge Business School, features in a Cambridge book The Meaning of Success and on the accompanying website at http://www.cam.ac.uk/women-at-cambridge, speaking about her career and philosophy of success. The book brings together the stories of women from across the University of Cambridge and examines what success means to them as they share the individual life journeys...

The entrepreneurial journey begins with an idea and leads to the start of a new venture. Some argue that is the easy bit! The really hard part is the subsequent growth of the firm. This requires clarity, strategic thinking and a deep understanding of management in all its various components. One of the key issues that arise is whether people are clear enough about their choices. Should they grow a lifestyle business or a high growth business? What are the personal implications of such...

The Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning (CfEL) talked to Dr Helen Lee, Director of Research, Department of Haematology, University of Cambridge and Founder Diagnostics for the Real World about her very considerable experiences in diagnostics, founding companies, and the need to develop usable products for people in the developing world. Helen received her PhD from Cornell University and MSc from Oxford University. After post-doctoral training at Churchill Hospital in Oxford, the...

Jane has made the challenging transition from bench scientist to innovation leader with over 20 years experience at Cambridge Antibody Technology (CAT) and now MedImmune. She considers it is highly important for bioscientists to build partnerships because the more diverse views, ideas, expertise and perspective you can bring together to help solve specific problems, the better the result. Jane‘s experience is that the most successful collaborations depend on shared goals that are mutually...

Clive Rich, professional negotiator and author of the ‘Yes’ book published by Random House, has a track record of brokering deals for a range of heavy weight multinational organisations and brands. He shared his knowledge of entrepreneurial negotiating with delegates of the Ignite programme in July 2013. During this interview, he advises on why negotiation skills are important to entrepreneurs and SMEs and provides real examples of applying strategies successfully. Clive tries to enable...

Dr Julie Barnes has extensive commercial and scientific experience in the life sciences sector and early stage businesses making her a great female role model. In this interview for the Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning, she talks about how the sector has changed enormously over the last 25 years leading to the emergence of medicines for preventative healthcare. The next phase of change is going to be about individual choice and managing health, rather than managing disease. At present, we...

The Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning (CfEL) talked to Mary Anne Cordeiro, Director of Albion Income and Growth Venture Capital Trust plc and Director of Science to Business about her experiences of helping early stage technologies with product development and how those within the bio sector need to think outside the box. Mary Anne is an Oxford University graduate who had a fifteen year career in the City with Goldman Sachs, Bankers Trust and Paribas giving her extensive expertise in all...

Chris Barnardo & Richard Blakesley, Co-Founders of The Wand Company, speaking on the topic 'Creating Star Teams' at the CfEL Enterprise Tuesday lecture series in February 2013. The most frequently cited reason for the success or failure of a venture is whether or not the team (as defined by its composition, experience, expertise, chemistry, soft skills, shared purpose and values) is effectively formed and developed. This session focuses on entrepreneurial teams, the role of the ‘Alpha...

Lord Karan Bilimoria CBE DL, founder and Chairman of Cobra Beer, speaking about his entrepreneurial journey and the choices he made while growing the business, at the Enterprise Tuesday lecture series in February 2013. The entrepreneurial journey begins with an idea and leads to the start of a new venture. Some argue that is the easy bit! The really hard part is the subsequent growth of the firm. This requires clarity, strategic thinking and a deep understanding of management in all its...

In the second session of the 2012-2013 Enterprise Tuesday series, we have an opportunity to explore Mindsets and Motivations in the context of one of the fastest growing biotech firms in Europe. Horizon Discovery has been growing at 100%+ per annum by leveraging its strong IP, technology and customer base. It is a fast growing company rather than a lifestyle venture. What implication does this have on the management team and the business itself? How does a team form the skills to complement...

Rahul Vohra, CEO & Co-Founder of Rapportive and Dr Shamus Husheer, CEO of Cambridge Temperature Concepts, speaking on the topic 'Serendipity or Hard Work' at the Enterprise Tuesday lecture series on 27th Nov 2012. Successful entrepreneurs are often dismissed as having had a bit of good luck. Entrepreneurs too, are sometimes tempted to ascribe their progress to luck or serendipity – 'Things happen!' What is the reality of entrepreneurial success or indeed failure? How much can we rely...

Full Lecture introduced by Dr Shai Vyakarnam, Director of the Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning. The evening’s speakers are members of a top team both in terms of scientific research and commercialisation. Professor Sir Richard Friend is co-presenting with Dr. Simon Bransfield Garth, CEO of Eight19 who has deep experience of taking disruptive technology to market and a PhD in Engineering from St Johns College. They are joined by Dr Seena Rejal, who has a strong track record too including...

The Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning interviewed Prof Walter Kuemmerle, a guest speaker at the recent European Entrepreneurship Colloquium (EEC 2012) in Cambridge, about the role of the University in fostering innovation and entrepreneurship. During the EEC, Prof Kuemmerle focussed on technology entrepreneurship in proximity to a University, the role of the University and some of the challenges for a start-up company using specific case study examples. He regards Universities as fertile...

The Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning (CfEL) talked to Dr Andy Richards, serial biotechnology entrepreneur and business angel, about determining and defining effective business models in the life sciences sector. He talks about the particular challenges of the sector where high market value and mass market need is contrasted by tight regulatory process and high cost to market. This combined with the high risk of failure means it is a challenge to pitch to investors. Dr Richards encourages...

Mr Julian Hitchcock, Counsel at law firm Lawford Davies Denoon The Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning (CfEL) talked to Julian Hitchcock, Counsel at law firm Lawford Davies Denoon (www.lawforddaviesdenoon.com), about intellectual property rights issues for those looking to extract the maximum value from innovations in the complex Life Sciences sector. He emphasises the importance of doing due diligence to fully understand the patent landscape and the regulatory route to market before...

Do you want to learn how to unlock the entrepreneurial potential of students? The Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning interviewed Dr Shai Vyakarnam, CfEL Director and Neal Hartman, Senior Lecturer in Managerial Communication at the MIT Sloan School of Management, about their new book ‘Unlocking the Enterpriser Inside”, A Book of Why, What and How!’ Based on the many years of experience of the co-authors, the aim of the book is to provide inspiration, guidance, tools and techniques for...